When Consumer Connection Reigns Supreme, Understanding Where Your Brand Stacks Up Within the Cultural Zeitgeist is Mission Critical
For more information visit BrandgeistIQ.com
The need for brands to connect with consumers through culture is an established concept. However, the manner and the speed now required to do so successfully —and in a way that drives bottom-line impact— has evolved faster than the latest fling on “Love Island.” With brands hustling to react to the latest meme, trending TikTok dance or societal crisis, it can be difficult to quantify how these efforts impact cultural relevance, cement customer loyalty and drive brand love.
But how do you measure cultural relevance? A brand video hitting viral status or basking in the afterglow of soaring sales following the launch of a new program are certainly markers, but that’s not a holistic view. If only culture had a crystal ball…Allison+Partners has entered the chat.
Determined to untangle all the elements that make up a truly culturally relevant brand, Allison+Partners Consumer Brands team built a first-of-its-kind, proprietary tool to measure how brands rank within culture at any given time. While some may think this sounds like the Upside Down, we call it, “Brandgeist IQ” (BGIQ).
And don’t worry consumer marketers, BGIQ won’t take your job, but it will help you do it better – we pinky swear. Created by combining our consumer brand prowess with best-in-class performance and intelligence chops, BGIQ produces a comprehensive and real-time score that details how culturally relevant a brand is at any moment in time.
Brands measured through BGIQ receive a score from 1-100 that assesses how well they perform against five indicators: Plugged into Pop Culture, Disrupting the Norm, Living with Purpose, Always Inclusive, and Modern and On-Trend. We started by scoring 50 of America’s favorite brands from up-and-coming to iconic and everything in between, which can be seen by visiting BrandgeistIQ.com.
So, who cracked the cultural nut? Brands that performed well across the performance indicators include:
- Liquid Death – Love it or hate it, this canned water company is putting “death to plastic” in everything it does and gives sustainability a new kind of edge.
- MAC Cosmetics – Not only does the brand smash gender norms in the makeup space, it also brings to life its inclusive messaging across platforms. MAC is even tapped into the tech space with a recently announced partnership with Launchmetrics and Microsoft for a beauty-focused hackathon.
- Calm – The mental health app never misses a beat when it comes to tapping into topical conversations. From its 30 second commercial spot of rain to help consumers feel the Calm during a stressful election season to partnering with Harry Styles to read app subscribers a bedtime story.
BGIQ also allows brands to see how they measure up against their top competitors to give teams an unfair advantage. Once scored, brands can work with Allison+Partners to use their BGIQ results to find whitespace, inform campaign planning, and develop marketing and PR programming to achieve greater cultural relevance.
The new scoring tool is the latest culture-focused product to come out of Allison+Partners’ award-winning Consumer Brands Practice and a natural evolution of TapIN, the agency’s culture engagement offering that turns trends into actionable brand moments.
To see if your brand was scored in the first 50 or to make an inquiry, please visit: BrandgeistIQ.com or email BGIQ@allisonpr.com.
Lisa Rosenberg is a creative instigator who believes brands must live at the intersection of culture and commerce. Currently she is Partner + President of Consumer Brands at Allison+Partners. She has spent her career developing award-winning campaigns for major consumer brands and has launched every shaving innovation for Gillette from Sensor to Fusion ProGlide, helped M&M’s put the color purple in the bag, was the creative force behind Driscoll’s Rosé berries and drove Budweiser’s success at Super Bowl LV. A noted industry leader, Lisa is often quoted on brand and marketing trends and has served on numerous award juries, including Cannes Lions, The Clios, Brand Film Festival, Sabre Awards, Silver Anvils, Snackable Content and PRWeek Awards, among others. She has been recognized by PRovoke Media as an Innovator 25, by PRWeek as a Hall of Femme and a Champion of PR and has won more than 65 awards on behalf of her clients.